Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.

The Buddha's teaching challenges us to master the art of living, to live in a way that leads to the extinction of suffering.

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

The mind is the forerunner of all things. Our present life is the result of our past thoughts, and our future life will be the result of our present thoughts.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

Meditation is not about achieving anything. It's about letting go of everything.

Mindfulness is being aware of what is happening right now, without wishing it were different.

The yogi's joy is in the solitude of mountains, where all distractions naturally dissolve into emptiness.

Panic is a gateway to wisdom. When we learn to stay present with our panic, it becomes our teacher.

When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.

Should you desire the great tranquility, prepare to sweat white beads.

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

The ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

Whatever precious jewel there is in the heavenly worlds, there is nothing comparable to one who is awakened.

Mindfulness is the quality and power of mind that is aware of what's happening—without judgment and without interference.

What Zen wants us to do is to acquire an entirely new point of view whereby to look into the mysteries of life and the secrets of nature.

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

The path is not about moving from one place to another. It's about recognizing where we already are.

The root of happiness is altruism — the wish to be of service to others.

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

The nature of the mind is like the sky, and our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are like clouds passing through it.

The ultimate source of a happy life is warm-heartedness. This means extending to others the kind of concern we have for ourselves.

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

The more we understand our mind, the more we understand the world.

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.

Right practice is steady practice. Whether you feel lazy or diligent, just keep practicing.